Idul Adha celebrated nationwide

Idul Adha celebrated nationwide

JAKARTA (JP): Millions of Moslems here celebrated the Islamic
Day of Sacrifice yesterday with solemn prayers in mosques and in
fields, and with the slaughtering and distributing of livestock
to the poor.

From almost every mosque in many parts of the country, the
sound of bedug gongs and the chant of Allahu Akbar (God is Great)
echoed since Tuesday afternoon and ceased only minutes before the
Idul Adha, or Sacrifice Day, prayers began.

The majority of Moslems started the ritual on Monday with the
recommended two-day fasting and the selling and buying of
livestock. In market places, women were seen buying ketupat --
rhombus shaped packets of plaited young coconut leaves, in which
they made rice cakes.

The rice cakes were later eaten with curries made with the
distributed meat.

Festivities marked some of yesterday's activities. In various
corners of Jakarta and Depok, for instance, small groups of
people gathered to watch skilled butchers slaughtering the
sacrificial animals.

Orphans and other people considered mustahiq -- rightful
recipients -- lined up to receive several kilograms of meat each.

President Soeharto and Vice President Try Sutrisno said their
Idul Adha prayers in the Istiqlal Grand Mosque, along with tens
of thousands of Jakartan Moslems. K.H. Abdul Aziez Muslim, an
ulema from Bogor, led the prayer.

The congregation, which also consisted of a number of top
government officials and foreign dignitaries, heard the sermon
given by Effendi Zarkasi, a member of BP7, a body in charge of
disseminating state ideology Pancasila.

Afterward, President Soeharto presented his family's offering,
a cow weighing 703 kilograms, to the ad interim Minister of
Religious Affairs Saadillah Mursyid. Vice President Try Sutrisno
gave his offering, a 605 kilogram cow, to the Istiqlal Mosque's
official, Aswasmarno.

The two cows were included in a number of livestock
slaughtered and distributed by the mosque's leaders.

Two messages dominated the sermons in many mosques yesterday:
the willingness of Moslems to surrender a portion of their wealth
to redress social gaps, and the process of haj pilgrimage which
reached its peak in Mecca yesterday.

In Istiqlal, Effendi Zarkasi told the congregation that the
willingness to do without, coming simultaneously from a great
number of people, may create so great an impact that a nation
could reach its glory.

Indonesia won its independence in 1945 because people were
willing to sacrifice even their lives, he said. "There is no way
that the great task of development can be completed without unity
and togetherness, and the willingness to make sacrifices," he
said.

In the Al Azhar Grand Mosque, preacher Din Syamsuddin told a
congregation of about eight thousand people that the potential of
Moslem communities never becomes reality due to the communities'
own shortcomings.

Weaknesses

"The weaknesses of Moslems are many, ranging from the lack of
social, educational, economical to political infrastructure," he
said. "Many Moslems are still living in abject poverty, have low-
quality education, and are unable to compete economically with
other groups in society."

Preacher H. Anjar told the congregation in the Cut Mutiah
Mosque that Moslems should divert conflicts and strengthen the
feeling of brotherhood among them.

"Islam is a religion of peace...don't create an image that
Islam likes to fight or terrorize people," he was quoted by the
Antara news agency as saying.

Preacher Anwar Abbas told Moslems praying in the compound of
the Golkar office that too many people worship the thought of
material wealth. "These people love many other things more than
they love Allah," he told the congregation which included Golkar
chairman Harmoko.

The political grouping yesterday donated 75 head of livestock
to be slaughtered and distributed to people living nearby.

In the Armed Forces (ABRI) headquarters, H.Z. Arifin Nurdin
said in his sermon that Moslems should emulate Prophet Abraham in
his willingness to sacrifice everything in order to seek God's
blessing.

"Without sacrifice and trials, our experiences are not yet
complete..our faith has to be put to the test," he told some
5,000 people.

On Tuesday evening, ad interim Minister of Religious Affairs
Saadillah Mursyid said in a speech greeting the holy day that
Sacrifice Day, which originated from Abraham's willingness to
sacrifice his son, Prophet Ismail, and became a part of the haj
ritual, teaches Moslems the value of equality. (swe)